


Selective

by seamistress89



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: 5 + 1, 5 Times, Drabble, F/F, F/M, Feels, M/M, Mute Link, Selectively Mute Link
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-12 22:16:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11746275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seamistress89/pseuds/seamistress89
Summary: Link is sellectively mute. This is just a 5 + 1 drabble for it, because really there's not enough love for this tag in my opinion.





	Selective

**Author's Note:**

> Sea: So as the summary says, there's seriously not enough love for selectively mute Link. I mean it. So far I'm on page 7 in ao3, and I've found ONE fic with it. It's really not fair =(  
> This is also under the SidLink stuff I was looking under though, so ... yeah.
> 
> Edit! So I realized that I was spelling Ruto instead of Ruta a bit late. I went through and fixed it right fast! Sorry, guys!

Since he was a small baby, Link has always been a pretty quiet child. He was really only vocal in battle and that was only because of the training he's received from his father and the royal guards. To be fair though, he's not quite sure they meant him to be vocal when swinging around a sword and shield. Aside from his battle cries and his cries as a baby for food, changing and attention, Link is pretty sure the first he's talked was when he was maybe when he met the princess the first time. That was about when he was six years of age, while she was eight.

 

The princess had been in a field of flowers in a small atrium near the throne room when he found her. When she did not take notice in the sounds he made as he walked through the grass and floral, he opened his mouth. “P... Princess?” His voice sounded raw with misuse and barely came out as more than a whisper. He was a little surprised when the girl turned at his call for her. He smiled and a hand outstretched for her.

 

A gentle smile graces her lips when she seen him. She had been knelt on a stone slab in the middle of the field, her hands had been clasped together in prayer. When Link held his hand out for her though, she nods and moves carefully to her feet and brushes dust from her knees. “Does Father wish to see me?” She asks.

 

At the nod Link gives in response, she smiles. At least she got to hear his voice once...

 

~*~

 

For the most part, Link falls silent again for another few years. To communicate mostly, he talks with his hands or draws words in the dirt or sand when the other can't quite understand what he's trying to say. Unfortunately while trying to commune with Revali, it just happens there's nothing to draw on. He's stood before the bird man in the rito's home town upon a few planks of wood and Revali just won't shut up! The bird man has been rambling about how he was the best archer to grace the sky again and Link just was not having any of it right now! That man could be so annoying!

 

It takes a few minutes before he finally snaps. “Would you please just shut up for a minute! You're starting to give me a headache!” Once again, his voice is raw with misuse. This is really only maybe the second he's remembered using his vocals, instead of communing through his hands. Well, he's sure it's been more then that he's used his voice, but really he's not sure he cares at the moment.

 

Eyes blown wide, Revali does fall silent for a little over a minute. 63... 64... 65.... Link actually counts the seconds until he reaches 96. An impressive record, actually.

 

“Y-you can actually commune through speech?” The rito demands and Link exhales a sigh. Why wasn't he surprised Revali would have a hay day with this?

 

~*~

 

It's a few months after his outburst with Revali that Link next remembers using his voice to communicate. He and Mipha are sat atop Ruta's head as the divine beast sits in the water, likely having a nice soak while her master finds no need for her. Mipha is working her healing magic once more, though the champion can tell even with her powers, the wound would still scar. A frown mars the zorans pretty lips and Link smiles to her to try and assure her it would be alright.

 

A sigh escapes the healers lips as her hands soon settle into her lap. “It is as I feared, I think. This wound will scar for certain. I can't heal it fully.” Even after all her years of practice on healing him, she always feels disappointed in herself when a scar would form because she just can't heal him enough.

 

A creamy hand moves to cover her own and Link offers her a genuine smile and shakes his head. “It's only a scratch of a scar... It's okay.” He tries to assure. His voice is a little better sounding then when he tried to tell Revali to shut up a few months previous. His vocal chords have unfortunately been getting a work out whenever he's had to visit the rito's lands. As much as he hates talking – there's something about the sound of his voice combined with the anxiety he's had since young, that he just doesn't like about the sound of his voice – the rito champion would not let up and ends up forcing the Hyrulian to speak.

 

Mipha offers him a gentle smile once more and hesitates a moment before she nods. “Right... It's not that big, I suppose.” Link gives her hand a small squeeze of assurance.

 

~*~

 

The champions and the princess are all together when Link remembers talking next. They're planning their attack on Calamity Ganon when Revali glares directly at Link. Te Hyrulian has once more been silent for near their entire meeting and it's been really ruffling the rito's feathers that the damned supposed hero just won't speak up!

 

Sure the hero has used his hands to express any concerns or comments he's had, and yes, the other four (excluding the rito, of course) did know how to read his finger waggling (Zelda often would translate when Revali demanded to know what the Hell the boy had said now), but Goddess forbid!

 

With a flap of his wings to help him back to his feet (they were all sat in a circle on their bums), Revali pointed a feather at the hero. “I demand to know, hero! Why is it you refuse to voice opinion!” The demand cut off something Mipha wanted to say in concern to something commented by Daruk as all fell silent.

 

All eyes turned on the male Hyrulian – some in concern, one in annoyance, and another two in confusion – the princess was about to speak up for her knight when Link exhales a sigh and shakes his head. “I can speak for... myself, princess.” His voice is once more a bit rawer sounding. It's been almost two seasons since he's spoken again, having voiced some concerns with Zelda over not wishing to go towards Rito for a while. The princesses mouth closes and she nods. One pair of concerned eyes turn instead to glare at Revali.

 

Link turns his own gaze towards Daruk and Urbosa to give them an almost apologetic smile. “I've... never liked the sound of y own voice. For that reason, along... along with another or two I'd like to keep to myself, I have been uh...” The Hyrulian pauses to search for just the right words. “Selectively mute... I think that's what the medics called it. I've been diagnosed this way since I was... five years of age.” It had taken his parents that long to find out something just wasn't right with their son.

 

Silence fell upon the champions and the princess before finally Urbosa was the one to break it. Urbosa's voice boomed like a clap of thunder as her laughter reigned and the Gerudo champion shook her head. “Revali, you must be joking if you think that was serious enough a topic to interrupt!” The woman boomed, her lips turned up in a rather ferocious grin. She eyed the rito in a way one would eye their prey. If one didn't know better, and if it weren't against their rules, one would think the gerudo ready to strike the rito with a bolt of lightning for his rude interruption.

 

“Really, I don't see a big deal in it either. If our brother don't wanna talk, why you thinkin' to make him?” Daruk chimed in, a thick brow raising in question.

 

“Well, I...” Revali hesitates as he tries to think of a way to defend his earlier outburst. When he couldn't quite find a way to properly defend himself, Link merely smiled (albeit forcefully) to the rito and a hand moved to give his knee a reassuring squeeze.

 

~*~

 

Link doesn't remember talking much after that. He remembers making a few sounds, but nothing ever came out as proper words, so his voice is once more highly misused for over a century. His vocals feel sore as he makes his way out the small pool he's slept in while in the shrine of resurrection. Small grunts almost feel too much for him for a while. It's maybe a few days worth of travel and small noises before his vocals feel even remotely normal again – though he's not sure he even remembers what normal feels like.

 

He's rather grateful to Rhoam when the old king raises a hand when he opens his mouth to speak again for the first time in a while. “Link, it's quite alright if you use those hands of yours to speak instead of your hands. I promise you, young one. I will understand.”

 

Link hesitates but a moment, before his head shifts into a nod and a grateful smile dons his lips as their conversation continues.

 

It's another week of travel before he stumbles across the first zoran, telling him, demanding him even, that he must speak with their prince. His hands move to inquire, but the zoran simply doesn't understand and only asks that he don't inform the prince that she was having a splash around instead of thoroughly looking for a Hylian. The blond simply sighs and nods his head to agree. He's not a snitch after all, and the woman did find a hylian.

 

It's another day of travel before he finally finds the tower of this area. He adds the location to his map once he's climbed up, before he takes notice of the poor zoran stood on one of the corners. The zoran explains that he was stood in the area when the tower erupted and rose and has been much too afraid to find his way down since. Link feels for the man and he tries to offer in his language of hand gestures that he can carry the man down, but he just doesn't understand. His voice feels too rough to get out more than a whisper at the moment, so instead Link finally exhales and just para-glides himself back to the ground bellow.

 

It's no more then half a days travel then before he finds the bridge the insistent zoran demand he reach. It's there his vocals finally get the exercise they've been so desperate to finally receive. A gasp and a head whirl in this way and that is his answer at first when a voice calls for his attention. When the other calls an “up here!”, Link looks up to one of the guard towers to watch as a tall red and white fish man jumps down, doing a somersault mid air before striking a pose and flashing a rather dazzling smile. A dust of pink crosses Link's cheeks as the zoran introduces himself as the prince and all but demands – though thankfully in a charming, not one bit annoying way – Link's help to rescue his lands from a potential flooding. When Link agrees, the prince flashes him another dazzling smile and explains where to go to get to the zora domain before he back-flips into the water and explains he'll be going up ahead just a bit to scout, but he'd be close enough that if Link finds himself in peril or need of some assistance, he can call out for the prince.

 

Link doubts he'll find need in the assistance but nods his head anyways in respect and thanks. Link finds that he's right in not needing the prince's help too. The only close call he has is when the moblin tries to sneak up on him on that long bridge. Sidon calls out for Link to watch his back though (after calling for his attention in the first place to cheer him on) and the hylian manages to dodge a swing of the bokoblin club just in time. A second late and he was sure to have gone flying into the waters below. It only takes a few hours after that to finally reach the zoran domain. It doesn't take long from then before he's met with their king, Dorephan and the (annoying) adviser and royal tutor, Muzu. The gray-black fish man is of course hesitant to accept the hylian but after maybe ten minutes (and the donning of the zoran tunic), the zoran has no choice but to accept him. When he does, the fish man grumbles afterwards and stalks off in a huff.

 

“Wondrous! I'm quite pleased that Muzu has accepted you finally, hero!” The prince exclaims when they are alone for the most part in front of Mipha's statue. Link smiles to him and gives a small nod. The two then proceed to make plans to take on the divine beast, Vah Ruta.

 

It's another day's worth of supply gathering and such before Link makes his way to the pier Sidon said they should meet once Link was ready. Sidon then demands that Link climb aboard his back when the hero was ready and soon they're off. It doesn't take more then a few minutes to calm Ruta down enough that Link can climb aboard her to finish the job. When Sidon tells him he must do this alone though, that's when Link gathers the courage to finally vocalize something around the prince.

 

“You're not coming up with?” His voice is once more highly raw from misuse, so it's hard to make the noise go much over a whisper. When Sidon blinks in confusion at him, Link turns his face down with a flush on his cheeks. “Sorry...”

 

It takes Sidon only a moment to recover and he gathers Link in a hug. “There's no need to apologize, dearest hero! Your voice simply surprised me! To think, such a beautiful voice could come from such a fragile being.” The words only cause Link's flush to grow in shades. The hyrulian buries his face a little more in the strong muscles of the others chest. The moment only makes a bark of laughter escape from the zoran and soon Link finds a hand tilting his chin up to meet gold rimmed eyes. “I'm afraid I truly cannot come with you into Ruta. Only a champion may enter her, but I do promise you, I will be right here, cheering you on.”

 

Link can only nod in acceptance to this and Sidon hesitates before a gentle press of lips is pressed to the blonds forehead.

 

~*~

 

It's no more then a few hours the next he remembers using his voice. He's finished off the horrible version of Ganon that has slain his best friend not long after he fell into his slumber and the spirit of Mipha appears near the wall before coming towards him. There's a gentle smile on the healers' lips as she reaches a half fin, half hand to cup Link's cheek and Link leans into the touch.

 

“My, how handsome you've become, dearest Link.” the deceased princess speaks and a sad smile graces Link's lips. “Please, don't be sad for me. You rescued me from my imprisonment within Ruta and now we can once more move along with our plan.” There's a clear hesitance, but soon the hero is nodding. Mipha smiles gently to him again before her hand falls from his cheek and she steps back. “I'm afraid it is time for me to depart though, dearest friend. I do hope you'll free the others soon. I'm sure lady Urbosa would be very pleased to finally reunite with lady Zelda soon, after all.” A small, knowing giggle escapes followed by Link's own light laugh. Link can feel the light gathering around him before he even takes notice of it visually. “But before you leave, I have a parting gift for you. I bless upon you, Mipha's grace. Remember, Link... I will always heal you.” A small ball of green leaves Mipha's form and floats to him where it absorbs into his skin. He gasps at the foreign feeling and before he can offer any words of thanks or protests to spend just a few more minutes with her, the white light finally envelopes him and he's stood before her statue.

 

“Mipha! Wait!” He tries to call, a hand outstretched, desperate to touch her once more, just once more!

 

Sidon is there within seconds of hearing Link's voice. The blond soon is pulled into the zorans chest and before he can stop himself, he's crying into the broad expanse of chest.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Sea: I think I feel satisfied enough with this.  
> Also, I'm sure there's more selectively mute Link fics out there (and if anyone's come across any good ones, please please PLEASE feel free to suggest them to me), but for now, I've only found a small hand full... Anyways, hope this was okay, and such!


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